Business Traveler, April 2018

April 2018 n 27 Visit businesstravelerusa com Destinations n By Everen T Brown A return to Seoul after 20 years reveals sweeping changes and familiar places In 1998 my nephew and I visited Seoul enroute to Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands We spent a few days touring South Koreas dynamic capital ending with lunch at Seoul Tower Fast forward twenty years to February 2018 and we are in Seoul again this time coming back from the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang With only a few precious days to explore we very curious to see how much the skyline has changed and visit some places we missed on our first visit or which had been added since then The plan was once again to end our visit with lunch at Seoul Tower Getting to Seoul is easy whether from the airport or other cities and towns within Korea Trains are often the easiest for our travels it was the newly inaugurated KTX line This high speed train can whisk you from the airport to downtown Seoul station in 40 minutes In less than two hours you can travel to Koreas east coast to cities like Gangneung one of the Olympic host cities and home of the Winter Olympics coastal cluster of scenic sports venues The day after the Olympic closing ceremonies we boarded the high speed KTX train in Gangneung Packed with Olympic fans and spectators this train arrived at Seoul station in one hour and forty minutes After a quick taxi ride to our hotel we were off for an afternoon of shopping in Myeongdong Seouls flashy shopping district We began at the giant Lotte department store expressly looking for Olympic souvenirs as if we hadnt already purchased enough Then we took to the street looking for more Myeongdong features a large outdoor market area bustling pedestrian sidewalks lined with street vendors selling everything from food to purses to cosmetics pretty much everything except Olympic souvenirs Exclusive designer labels can be found in specialty shops throughout this neighborhood and you can find all these major brands within walking distance Various stands offered an assortment of street food from live seafood to desserts along with freshly squeezed pomegranate juice to wash it all down The aroma of the different types of Korean specialty foods motivates many a passerby to stop and purchase a snack on the run Myeongdong is popular with tourists and locals alike and makes for a delightful visit on any Seoul stopover The balance of the day was spent shopping and admiring Seouls burgeoning skyline Lost in Translation Language can be a barrier in Korea so best to have Google Translate on your phone There are several different translation apps however we found the Google version to be the most reliable Having said that our next days adventure began with a cab ride that was supposed to take us to the Korean War Memorial Since it is part museum and part memorial I incorrectly said into the translator app Korean War Museum and our driver did not understand Seeing the word museum he took us to the National Museum of Korea We were a bit surprised to pull up to this behemoth of a building and decided it was worth exploring We would have to delay our visit to the War Memorial of Korea until the next day Admission to the National Museum of Korea is free only special exhibits require an extra entry fee We bought tickets to two special exhibits and began exploring this gigantic museum Koreas answer to the Smithsonian Institution The history of Korea is told through an amazing collection of art and artifacts Several hours were spent enjoying this accumulation of history along with special exhibits of French art as well as the role of the tiger in Asian art Even though we moved quickly through the museum we soon found ourselves running out of time Another day had been filled If you visit this museum dont be daunted by the size it is doable just take your time and enjoy it slowly We were better prepared for our last full day in Seoul We had the hotel staff write down our first destination War Memorial of Korea the formal name of this landmark and museum Our taxi driver took us directly there and our visit began

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